This invention relates to a cartridge based data storage system in which a flexible magnetic disk is disposed within a cartridge shell. More particularly, the invention relates to a shutter shell latch mechanism for a disk cartridge and data storage device.
Flexible media disk cartridges with rotary shutters have been suggested for a decade or more. For example, a cartridge having a rotary shutter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re, 32,876 (Wakabayashi et al.). The Wakabayashi patent discloses a disk cassette that contains a flexible magnetic disk for storing information. The disk cassette comprises a flexible disk attached to a hub. The disk and hub assembly are sandwiched between an upper cover and a lower cover. Disk access openings are formed into the top and bottom covers for access by disk drive read/write heads. The Wakabayashi shutter rotates on the interior of the cartridge and comprises a metal sheet that slides over and thereby selectively covers the disk access openings. Such a shutter design may be operable for a flexible disk cartridge in which the media access opening is relatively small, and represents an alternative shutter design to the more common sliding shutter found in 1.44 megabyte floppy disks. For certain disk access openings, a different rotary shutter mechanism from the Wakabayashi shutter may be desirable.
More recently, a rotary shutter that is locked in a closed position has been disclosed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,095 (McGrath et al.) describes a rotary shutter that covers a significant percentage of the medium within the cartridge. The McGrath cartridge comprises a hard disk medium that is rotatably disposed within an outer shell. The shutter rotates within the outer shell to selectively expose and cover the medium. The shutter is locked in a closed position. During cartridge insertion, a pivoting arm engages the cartridge unlocking the shutter and rotating it open as the cartridge is inserted in to the drive. The pivoting arm rotates over the same arc as the opening shutter.
There is a need for an improved disk cartridge having a latched shutter shell.